John Lewis has announced it will open two new branded restaurants in its flagship store on Oxford Street, London.
Sister brands Ham Holy Burger (pictured) and Rossopomodoro will create a new social space in the department store and offer customers a more diverse range of dining options when spending a day shopping.
The John Lewis opening will be Ham Holy Burger’s first UK site. Ham Holy Burger is a cult Italian burger restaurant with three restaurants in Milan and Rome, it has a focus on fresh ingredients and is dedicated to creating a gourmet burger experience that reflects its Italian heritage, with an emphasis on provenance and quality.
Rossopomodoro opened its first restaurant in Naples, Italy in 1999 and now has eight sites in the UK in London and Birmingham. The focus is on high-quality, authentic ingredients and the restaurants have only Pizzaioli (pizza chefs) from Naples and its surrounding regions. Rossopomodoro’s pizzas are cooked to order in wood-fired brick ovens, and its pasta is sourced from Gragnano, also in the Campania region.
The move builds on John Lewis’s recent opening of two branded catering outlets, Scandinavian juice bar Joe & the Juice in its Solihull shop and Hotel Chocolat’s cocoa bar cafe in Edinburgh and York. It ties in with John Lewis’s move to offer rich and diverse social experiences in its shops, following on from its partnership with Kuoni to open travel concessions, and alongside its existing Beauty Retreat spas.
Andrew Murphy, retail director at John Lewis, said, “Ham Holy Burger and Rossopomodoro will give John Lewis customers a fantastic range of fresh food alternatives to help make their visits to our shops even more enjoyable and memorable.
'With their focus on quality and fresh ingredients, we think people are going to love the offer from these two brands at our flagship shop.
'We’ve had a great response to the coffee and juice outlets we’ve already opened in Edinburgh, York and Solihull, so it made sense to add restaurants and involve our London shops in this initiative.
“Food is increasingly important to our customers, and ensuring that the restaurants in our shops are places which people seek out and want to spend time in is a key part of our approach to creating enjoyable and memorable social experiences at John Lewis.”
Handley Amos, UK Managing Director at Rossopomodoro and Ham Holy Burger, said, “We are immensely proud to join John Lewis in the flagship Oxford Street department store.
'John Lewis represents uncompromising quality and service in the UK, and we believe both Rossopomodoro and Ham Holy Burger’s emphasis on premium, authentic ingredients make us a perfect partner for their customers.'